Diaz credits Henderson for vision-blurring punch, says Melendez next in line

SEATTLE – Nate Diaz said he took a punch early in his fight with lightweight champ Benson Henderson that altered his vision throughout their five-round fight.

“I was waiting for it to recover,” he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “When it did, I was going to come back strong, but it never did. So, Benson landed the good shot early, and I waited.”

With Henderson retaining the title via unanimous decision, Diaz said his longtime teammate, current Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez, should get the next title shot.

Henderson (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Diaz (16-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) met in the main event of UFC on FOX 5, which took place at Seattle’s KeyArena. The event’s main-card aired live on FOX.

Diaz praised sometime training partner Ronda Rousey’s recent coronation as UFC women’s bantamweight champ and said there was no reason Melendez (21-2 MMA, 11-1 SF), who reportedly is negotiating with the UFC on a new contract, shouldn’t be given the opportunity.

“He’s got the most perfect record, beat all the best guys, and I think that he’s the next guy in line,” he said. “It’s not my call, but if not, he’s coming for him. Watch out.”

Henderson said he only wanted to face the best opposition possible and didn’t have a preference as to his next opponent.

Diaz previously said Melendez might drop to featherweight if he was successful against Henderson and stay at lightweight if he fell short.

Henderson shut down Diaz’s boxing while smothering him against the fence and on the mat. The fight’s final scores were 50-43, 50-45 and 50-45 in favor of the champ.

Diaz arrived late to the post-event news conference sporting a massively swollen right eye. Although a cageside doctor was seen examining him between rounds 4 and 5, he said the fight was never in danger of being stopped.

His injury, however, made the fight into an ordeal. He said pressing the action against Henderson netted worse results.

“I was screwed,” he said.

Diaz, who submitted Jim Miller at May’s UFC on FOX 3 to earn a title shot, said he would seek to fight as soon as his eye healed up and thanked fans for their support.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?